Peter the Great — "To educate the people, one must first educate the nobility."
To educate the people, one must first educate the nobility.
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More from Peter the Great
"I have not spared and do not spare my life for my fatherland and its people."
"The Russian people are like children who will never learn their alphabet unless compelled by their teacher."
"I have conquered an empire but I have not been able to conquer myself."
"I have left my subjects more enlightened, but poorer."
"I would rather lose a battle than lose my spirit."
About Peter the Great (1672-1725)
Russian tsar (1682-1725) who Westernized Russia, founded St. Petersburg, and built Russia into a European great power. Closely associated with Catherine the Great (later Westernizing Russian empress). For an intellectual contrast, see Old Believers, Russian Orthodox traditionalist movement that rejected Patriarch Nikon's reforms and Peter's modernization — Peter's beard-shaving decrees, Western dress laws, and calendar changes triggered a religious-cultural schism — the founding poles of Russia's eternal 'European modernity vs Slavic tradition' debate that runs through Slavophiles, Solzhenitsyn, and contemporary Putin-era ideology.